With the snow falling and the goal line barely visible under a blanket of white, Danny McManus led the B.C. Lions on the game-winning touchdown drive to defeat the Calgary Stampeders in the 1994 West final.

It’s an iconic moment not just in Lions history but that of the CFL — the moment Darren Flutie tip-toed between two defenders in the slippery conditions to catch a four-yard pass inside the end zone, capping off an improbable come-from-behind road victory and an even greater upset over the heavily favoured Stampeders.

The battle of the Flutie brothers was won in the 1994 Western final by Darren, not his more famous brother Doug, who was quarterback for the favoured Calgary Stampeders.PNG

There have been other upsets.

In 2000, the Lions made it into the playoffs with an 8-10 record, then defeated Edmonton in the division semifinal before meeting the Stampeders again with a trip to the Grey Cup on the line.

The Stampeders that year went 12-5-1, the top team by a wide margin in the West. They were 8-1 at home, while the Lions had won just three times away from B.C. Place all season.

Expect the unexpected.

The Lions, with Damon Allen at quarterback and following a mid-season coaching change, were victorious that year, too. Both times, they went into the division final against Calgary as the underdogs, not given much of a chance, only to advance and win the Grey Cup.

“The big thing about that is you don’t think like the rest of the public or the press thinks,” said Jamie Taras, the former Lions offensive lineman who now works as the team’s director of community relations.

“You certainly don’t think, ‘We’re going against a team we can’t beat or they’re so good or they had such a great year.’ You’re … just focused on winning, and you’re looking at ways you can beat your opponent.”

Worth noting that the upsets have worked both ways.

In 2012, the Stampeders came into B.C. Place, before more than 43,000 fans, scored on the second play from scrimmage and never looked back, stunning the locals and advancing to the Grey Cup.

That loss was the accelerated beginning into the difficult times the Lions have gone through since. The regression of the on-field product worked simultaneously with a drop in attendance.

The plight of the Lions at the gate is another story altogether. But they have emerged as the team that will face the Stampeders for the right to play for this year’s Grey Cup. Written off at the beginning of the season, Wally Buono’s bunch, led by the rising star of Jonathon Jennings, have so far left the doubters in the rear-view mirror.

Despite their 12-6 record — a more consistent team compared to the 1994 and 2000 versions, Taras noted — and four straight wins culminating with that thrilling comeback victory over Winnipeg in the West semifinal, the Lions are again the underdogs (seven points, according to Odds Shark) going into Calgary.

In their last meeting, back on Aug. 19, the Stampeders crushed the Lions 37-9 at B.C. Place. One team played like a Grey Cup favourite. The other played like it was crashing back to reality.

The Lions, though, have made it a habit of responding positively to bad losses or individual mistakes.

The comeback win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the western semifinal was capped by Jonathon Jennings’ dive into the end zone. This isn’t the first time B.C. has been considered underdogs heading into the Western Final only to come out on top.

“Resilient” is a word Buono has used to describe this year’s team, even if it didn’t apply to Lions teams of the previous four years.

Going into Calgary, against a Stampeders team that lost only twice this year, and with the status of receivers Emmanuel Arceneaux (concussion and ankle) and Shawn Gore (concussion) still undetermined, the Lions are once again in a situation that will force them to respond to adversity.

Meanwhile, the Stampeders haven’t played since Oct. 30 and quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell hasn’t thrown a pass in a game since Oct. 21. There is also that to consider.

“Being resilient is also something that the players, the coaches see in the person that’s supposed to be leading them,” said Buono. “The game’s not over. Believe me, sometimes it’s difficult for me to be resilient. The players always pick you up.”

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